Rangers Can Still Make Patrick Kane Trade Work

Despite the New York Rangers acquiring Vladimir Tarasenko from the St. Louis Blues, they aren’t done adding just yet. The belief was that the Rangers would be out on Patrick Kane once they acquired one of the other top wingers on the market, but Larry Brooks reported that the team is still interested in Kane and have signaled they’ll still try to make a deal work is Kane is willing to waive his no-move clause.

Kane was clearly upset when the Rangers went out and got Tarasenko by the comments he made after the trade. Kane has also been on a tear and proving that he still has it with seven goals and 10 points in his last four games, which included a hat trick. There appear to be four leading destinations where Kane could go if New York is back in the mix, but none of us are in the mind of Kane and know which destination he prefers the most. If Chris Drury is going to find a way to make a deal work to acquire Kane, here’s how that will go.

How & Where Does Kane Fit With the Rangers

The salary cap is going to be the biggest obstacle for the Rangers to overcome. This will require a third team to help facilitate a deal at minimum, making it so the Rangers only have to acquire 25 percent of Kane’s cap hit ($2.65 million). That is doable, but the Rangers will also have to move money out. This will require a probable trade candidate in Vitali Kravtsov heading back to the Chicago Blackhawks as a starter for multiple reasons. He has a cap hit of $875,000, wants a trade, and is a good enough prospect that can get a fresh start and more opportunity with the Blackhawks.

Who Goes?

The Rangers currently have a 22-man roster and project to have just over $900,000 in cap space at the deadline. Even if they were to remove Kravtsov and Jake Leschyshyn from their roster and play with 18 skaters (11 forwards and seven defencemen), they would still need more cap space (about $150,000). The Rangers could always run one man short until playoffs when the salary cap goes away. The trades to acquire Niko Mikkola ($1.9 million) and Tyler Motte ($1.35 million) don’t look so great now. One crazy option is if the Rangers managed to pull off a four-team trade so that Kane’s cap hit would be 12.5 percent of his current contract ($1.325 million). Then it would work.

It’s not likely the Rangers want to deal Alexis Lafreniere, Kappo Kakko, or Tyler Motte, so their options are very limited and it will cost them. But it would also make them possibly the top Stanley Cup contender. Despite Tarasenko already entering into the Rangers’ top-six, there is also room for Kane. He could play on the top line beside Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider and the playmaking of Kane connecting to those two goal-scorers would be incredible.